Small processing units are becoming more common in current technologies. Portable electronics, automotive devices, toys, and even household appliances require the use of internal computing units for standard operation. Computer systems in these devices often provide some dedicated functionality that is tailored to the device. For example, a microcontroller in a thermostat may be adapted to monitor and regulate a home heating and cooling, and may also support communications to report status or to receive instructions from a homeowner.
Microcontrollers other controller circuits deployed in such devices may be called embedded systems. Many embedded systems are designed for widespread deployment in independent systems, which may allow benefits of low power consumption and/or low cost manufacture. Many embedded systems include some communications capabilities, to support interaction and/or upgrades.
The expanding use of embedded systems increases the need to include security features to may be helpful to protect these systems against spurious, malicious, or otherwise improper operation.